The Whiskey Lullaby
by erickatie
Summary: Michael always felt like he didn't belong on earth until he met Maria Deluca and fell head over heels for her...


**This is a one time shot: I hope that you enjoy. **

Michael didn't really know how to enjoy life. He wasn't found by nice people like Max and Isabel. He was adopted by a drunk low life. He was cussed and abused on a daily routine. He evened what Max and Isabel had with the Evans.

Michael often found himself alone. He would pull away and hide deep within himself. With all of his abilities even he couldn't make since of how he ended up were he had. Then one day as fate would have it, at a local restaurant he and Max were enjoying lunch. There was a robbery and Liz a girl that Max had been crushing on since kindergarten was shot. Max used his heeling powers to save her that day. He gave up the secret that he and Michael and Isabel had carried for so long. In doing this Liz told her best friend Maria.

Michael hated the ideal that their life's and fate rested in the hands of humans. He liked being unaccompanied. He found himself being rude to both Liz and Maria. It wasn't that he was trying to be mean. It was just the way Michael was.

Then one day a school project placed Michael in a place he never wanted to be. He needed a car to take him to a place he thought had all the answers to why they were on earth. Maria came along with the car. Not exactly by choice. This started a passion that no-one could explain with words alone.

Michael's heart grew love for her. He loved her so much that once he tried to push her away because he thought that he was just going to hurt her along the way. He couldn't live with himself if this happened. But he found out that he couldn't live without her either.

As the years went on Michael knew that he had found home. He had found out why he was placed on earth. To love her. To protect her. Protect her.

It was one in the morning when the knock came upon his bedroom door. He sat up in the bed and rubbed his eyes as he looked at the clock. Slowly he staggered to the door to open it and find a tear stained Alex. "What is it?" He asked nervously.

"Can I come in?"

Michael stepped back allowing Alex to enter. His heart racing with fear. He closed the door behind them as he followed Alex over to the kitchen counter.

"Michael, there's no easy way to say this. Maria was in an accident tonight. She a… She was killed."

Michael reached out for the counter to stable him. "Max,…"

Alex shook his head. "Max tried to save her. She's gone, Michael." His voice cracked. Michael knew that Alex had always loved her too. He just never told anyone.

"Where is she?" Michael asked.

"Max and Liz took her to his place. They told me to come and get you."

Michael had never felt pain like he felt when he entered Max's room. He looked at her lifeless body laying there. He clothes soaked in blood. Max held her hand as he cried. Liz sat in the floor rocking herself back and forth. She couldn't believe her best friend was gone.

"Michael,…" Max said as he stood up and walked over to him. "…I tried everything to save her."

Michael could hear Max talking but it was as if he was drawn to her. He walked over to her. He stroked her hair with the palm of his hand. A tear ran down his cheek. How was he suppose to lie now? How was he suppose to face the days ahead of him without her there to make him smile as only she could do? He lifted her half way up and kissed her forehead. He placed her in his lap as he rocked back and forth.

Isabel took Max by the hand. She had never seen Michael like that before. It broke her heart.

Michael couldn't sleep that night. He sat on his couch staring at a black tv. Screen. As a matter of fact he didn't sleep a wink all the way up to the day of the funeral. He tied his tie himself and made his way to the cemetery. He stood next to Maria's mom holding her hand. She had asked Michael to speak over Maria's body. It was the hardest thing he had ever had to do.

He cleared his throat as he opened the folded white paper in his hand. "Mrs. Deluca asked me to speak today. To tell you all about Maria." He paused. " Maria wasn't like anyone-else I have ever met. She was spunky and fun and beautiful and she lived life like an angel in Heaven. She was the only one that ever loved me for me. She would deny it if ever asked but she did love me." His voice cracked and his tears begin to fall heavy. He turned away from everyone.

Max walked over to him taking the paper from his hand and patting him on the back. He turned to everyone and begin to read from the paper that Michael had wrote. "When I first met her I can honestly say I couldn't stand her. She knew just how to get beneath my skin. But as time went on I learned to love this obnoxious girl that followed me around. Maria was giving and kind and loved most everyone. Their will never be another for me. I could never replace the love of my life. My Maria." Max refolded the paper and placed it in his pocket. He led Michael back over to Mrs. Deluca.

After the funeral Michael returned home. He once again sat in front of the tv. This time he wasn't alone. In his hand was a bottle of Jack Daniels. He had to forget her and all that she ment to him. He was going to drink away her memory. It had been a year to the date that she had died. Michael found himself standing in the middle of the highway were she was killed. Still holding onto the bottle of Jack Daniels he stood waiting for the next car to come alone. In his shirt pocket was a letter.

A bright light came around the corner. Michael clasped onto the bottle tightly as the car hit him knocking him into the air. He landed on the spot were Maria had landed when she was knocked from the Jetta late that night.

Max hurried to the scene when he heard the news. Tears in his eyes as he knelt down next to Michael. "Michael, what did you do?" He said as he looked at his blood soaked clothes. Just as he started to place his hand on him to heel him he noticed the note in his pocket. He opened it to read:

Max,

Please don't save me. You'll never know how hard it was for me to walk this earth without her. You'll never understand how I tried to drink her away. How the pain filled my life and I couldn't drown it away. Just let me go. Let me find my way.

Max looked at Michael. He knew that he would never forgive him for bringing him back. He put aside his heart and love for Michael and let him fly away just the way he asked him too.


End file.
